Apple leapt ahead of several vendors in 3Q10 including RIM, which it surpassed by 1.7-million units, and Sony Ericsson by 3.7-million units. The company’s record shipment performance can be attributed to the introduction of the iPhone 4 in 17 new countries last quarter. The record performance came despite „Antennagate,“ the name used to describe the controversy around alleged iPhone reception problems, in July.

Bereits in der Telefonkonferenz zu den Apple-Geschäftszahlen äußerte sich Steve Jobs zum Mitbewerber Research in Motion: „I don’t see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future. It will be a challenge for them to create a mobile software platform and convince developers to support a third platform“.

Darauf antwortete Co-CEO Jim Balsillie:

Apple’s preference to compare its September-ending quarter with RIM’s August-ending quarter doesn’t tell the whole story because it doesn’t take into account that industry demand in September is typically stronger than summer months, nor does it explain why Apple only shipped 8.4 million devices in its prior quarter and whether Apple’s Q4 results were padded by unfulfilled Q3 customer demand and channel orders.